Just another day in paradise…

{Tutorial} Cloth Wipes

I know that if you google homemade cloth wipes, you will probably find hundreds of tutorials on how to do it. My instructions are not new or creative. But I wanted to share with you the best way that I have found to make cloth wipes.

When I create things the first thing I do is figure out the easiest, and most economical way to do it. Being a military family we live on a tight budget and its hard for me to squeeze money out for my crafts.

In an effort to cut costs I couldn’t justify buying cloth wipes. I am sure that they are super soft and wonderful, but more money than we have to spend. And since we switched to cloth primarily to save money, the money that we do spend needs to go towards the diapers themselves.

I started digging through the things we have around the house, searching for usable material. In the process I came across a stack of wonderful flannel receiving blankets. Cute and cuddly, the boys have long since out grown these blankets.

These wipes are so simple to make! Even the most novice sewer can whip these up in a short amount of time!

{Tutorial} Cloth Wipes

*receiving blankets

*cardboard (I used a cereal box)

*sewing machine and supplies (thread, scissors, pins, ect.)

1. Open up an empty cereal box and measure out an 8″x8″ square. Cut it out. This is your pattern.

2. Cut 2 squares from your pattern for each cloth wipe you are going to make. I generally am able to get a good 4-6 wipes from each blanket (depending on the brand and size).

3. Pin the 2 squares together with the right sides facing one another. Place one pin going perpendicular to the edge to mark your starting point, and another one to mark your ending point. There should be a gap between the two that is about 1-2″ big. This will be used to turn the wipe right side out.

4. Start at your first perpendicular pin and stitch around the cloth wipe using a 1/4″ seam. Make sure that you back-stitch at the beginning, each corner, and at the end.

5. Trim the seams, and clip the corners. I generally leave the side that has the opening long. You can trim the seams on that side as well but make sure that you leave it longer on the open section for a clean finish.

6. Turn the wipe right side out. Make sure to use your fingers (or a chopstick) to push out the corners.

7. Tuck the edges of the open section inside. Iron the wipe.

8. Return to the machine and topstitch the entire wipe starting at the open seam. Use a 1/4″ seam. I went back over the wipe with a second topstitch for looks and to make sure that it will hold up through many uses and washes.

9. Sit back and admire your cute, free, wipes!

Below you can see my original wipes (using the same method but made smaller with an old towel and flannel), the wash clothes that we are using, the wipes container that now holds our wipes (although that may change soon), and the new wipes. Hope this inspires you to search for your own cheap an easy way to save money, and the environment, in your own life.

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I am a "domestic engineer" who enjoys dabbling in a variety of different artistic endeavors. I am blessed to be the wife of a wonderful man, and the mother of three handsome young men. These four men are the light of my life. Our life has a different set of challenges from many people, as we live the life of a military family, supporting my husband as he serves in the Air Force. The older boys are also Irish Twins, and are almost exactly 9 months apart. S was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes in September 2011, which has brought its own challenges. T was diagnosed with hypoglycemia in September 2012. We live a hard life but one we wouldn't trade for the world. This blog is a place for me to share our life stories, my creative experiments, links to various things that I discover online, and any random thoughts that I may have. Thanks for checking it out!

2 thoughts on “{Tutorial} Cloth Wipes”

I cannot sew at all and don’t have any desire to learn, so what I did was just cut up an old T-shirt. It works great for us! Your wipes are way cuter though. =) A few questions:

1. What do you use for your wipes solution?
2. How exactly do you use that re-purposed wipes container? I have a little spray bottle, and I spray a wipe before I use it. Your way looks easier!
3. What do you do on the go? I still use disposable wipes when we go out but I’m going to try and not buy anymore wipes, so I have to start using cloth wipes when we go out too.

Thanks for your questions. I plan on tackling all these questions either on here or as a guest judge on another blog. But I will pm you on facebook with some answers. Great idea to cut up t-shirts! Good way to use something around your house!

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